Ten players turned out for the store championship at Rainy Day Games (7 Rebel, 3 Imp.). With the success of my Full Retard list at the last tourney, I decided to try a b-wing variant.
(58) Han Solo - Expert Handling / Nien Nunb / Gunner / Engine Upgrade
(41) Ten Numb - Advanced Sensors / PTL / Engine Upgrade
The theory behind the list is that the only thing better than having 5 shields is to just never let your opponent shoot at you in the first place...
Round 1 (Travis)
Han Solo - Veteran Instincts / Gunner / Engine Upgrade
Red Squadron
Rookie
Travis is one of my regular opponents, and knows full well the havoc that a squirrely Han build can wreak. I was able to avoid his falcon and maul his x-wings early on, which made a huge difference. He managed to pop Ten Numb, but not before his Han was down to 3 hull vs my 6. At that point, it was just dice.
(1-0)
Round 2 (Burk)
Bounty Hunter - Anti-pursuit lasers / Seismic Charge
Turr Phenir - PTL / Stealth
two other TIE's...I want to say Dark Curse and Backstabber?
In this round, I was able to gang up on his bounty hunter early, and blast him down to 2 hull. Burk also managed to roll 4 blanks in response to 2 hits / 2 crits from Ten Numb. After that it was just a matter of staying out of his firing arcs, though he flew darned well. At the end, Han was down to 2 hull while Ten was down to 1.
(2-0)
Round 3 (Kahn)
Grey Squadron - Ion Turret
Dagger Squadron - Ion Cannon
2x Dagger Squadron
Looking across the table at 32 hp, I knew this was going to be a tricky battle. So, obviously the only thing to do was to make a completely boneheaded mistake in the first engagement. I sent Han & Tumb forward on opposite flanks, with Kahn ultimately flying all four ships at Ten Nunb. In a moment of complete idiocy, I barrel rolled & PTL'd for a focus. As I set down the token, I realized my mistake. Kahn promptly ion'ed poor Ten and escorted him off the board. If I hadn't had the stress, the sensors and PTL would have saved me...
At that point it was Han vs Kahn's entire squadron. Thankfully, I was able to get him to chase me through the asteroids and disrupt his neat formation. In short, Expert Handling won me the game, as I was able to roll out of his firing arcs by 1/8" or less on no less than nine occasions. The Y-wing fell first, and then all three B's (the last in the final 2 minutes of the game). Easily one of the best games I've ever had.
(3-0)
Round 4 (Paul)
Bounty Hunter - Recon specialist / Gunner
Howlrunner
Backstabber
Winged Gundark
Black Squadron - Veteran Instincts
Paul is another regular opponent of mine, and he's been having a lot of success with the mid-range named TIE pilots. I was able to take out Howlrunner early, which saved me a lot of headaches over the rest of the match. After reducing the firespray to two hull and taking out the Black squadron pilot, Han was blown off the table by the firespray, leaving Ten Numb with 2 shields vs a damaged Backstabber and a pristine Gundark. Ten took out Backstabber, but was left shieldless in return. Over the next 8-10 rounds, Ten & the Gundark played cat & mouse around an asteroid, with Ten getting a shot off about every three rounds. With one minute to spare, Ten managed to get a TL/focussed firing solution on the Gundark, and the game was mine.
(4-0)
As the only player without any losses, I scored 1st place. Travis took second, followed by Scott (Mr. Froggies) in third and Brad in 4th. There were enough players that there were store credit vouchers for the 1st & 2nd place finishers, in addition to the tourney swag. Along with the plaque, I scored a great box of Advanced Sensors (heh).
All in all. a great tournament at a great venue. Thanks to the T.O. and to Rainy Day Games!
Edited by CatPeeler